So, now that George Lucas
has begun to work on the live action Star Wars
television series, talk has resurfaced about whether or not Lucas will do
another trilogy. Of course, people who are not Star Wars fanatics are
probably wondering: What other Star Wars trilogy could Lucas do? Well,
welcome to Star Wars: The Expanded Universe!

That all ended in 1991, fourteen years after Star Wars first aired in
theaters. Finally, Lucasfilm Ltd.
had given authorization for the story to be
continued. This continuation began with a three part series and has now grown
in numbers that I can’t even begin to imagine. To give you an idea of how large
the novel collection is, consider this: I have over 70 Star Wars books
and that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. When you consider how many
Star Wars novels are out there, it’s hard for a newcomer to know where to
begin. I always say, start with the one trilogy that every Star Wars
fanatic wishes George Lucas would adapt to film: The Thrawn Trilogy,
written by Timothy Zahn.

The very
first novel to hit the bookstores in 1991 was part one of this trilogy, Heir to the Empire, taking place 5 years after Return of the Jedi. The
Death Star
has been destroyed and the Emperor has been killed. The Rebel Alliance
has successfully driven back all Imperial Starfleet
remnants. The
Imperials now control barely a quarter of the territory they originally
claimed. A new government has risen, with Mon Mothma
at the helm. Leia Organa
and Han Solo are now husband and wife. Han has been asked to use his
connections to set up an alliance with those in the smuggler’s trade in an
attempt to further interstellar trade. In addition with assisting Mon Mothma in
getting the new government set up, Han and Leia are faced with a new challenge:
parenthood. Leia is expecting twins. Luke Skywalker is coming to grips with
the fact that, now that Ben
and Yoda
are gone, the training of his sister and
her children will fall on his shoulders. As if these challenges aren’t enough,
a new leader has risen in the Imperial Forces – one that threatens to destroy
all that the Rebellion helped to build. His name is Admiral Thrawn
and he is
bent on the destruction of this “New Republic”.

As the trilogy continues in the novels Dark Force Rising and Last Command, we learn that Luke is not the last of the
Jedi. There are others
who can wield the force. One of these force-wielders, C’boath, offers his aide
to Thrawn on one condition – C’boath wants Leia’s unborn children. Another of
these force-wielders is obsessed with carrying out the Emperor’s last command to
kill Luke Skywalker. And to top all of this off, we discover that not all of
the cloning facilities were destroyed after the clone wars. One still exists
and Thrawn has found it. How will our heroes cope with all these new
challenges? You have to read the books to find out.

The
Thrawn Trilogy is packed with action and adventure. Timothy Zahn truly
captures the spirit of Star Wars in this trilogy. Expanded universe fans
everywhere agree that Timothy Zahn is THE best of the Star Wars authors.
The books are riveting and have something for every type of Star Wars
fan. You want dogfights? You got ‘em! Jedi? Got ‘em! Want to know where
Lando
and your other favorites from the Star Wars trilogy end up? Got
that, too! And the locations – we get to travel to Myrkyr, Coruscant, Tattooine,
Wayland, Kashyyyk
– more planets than I can even mention here. These novels are
just incredible! I can’t say enough about them! Once you start reading them,
you can’t put them down and once you finish, you can’t wait to get to the next
one. The trilogy was so well done, that it sparked a movement to get George
Lucas to film the continued adventures of Luke, Han, and Leia. (He still
refuses, but a Star Wars fanatic can always hope!) If you want to read
the further adventures of your favorite Star Wars characters, The
Thrawn Trilogy is definitely the place to start!